Elk Hunter 338
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Fresh out man! i do have an old 270 win that was my grandpa's .. that should work
My mission to find the best short barreled big 338!!!
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Rick Richard
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This for that moose? Lol.
Elk Hunter 338
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I mean. it should work. RIGHT? got some ole silvertips for it to
codyadams
Well-Known Member
Only moose I have ever killed was with a 20" .308 win, with 168 ballistic tips. My sister killed one too, with an 18" model 7 in 7mm-08 and 129 hornady interlocks.....the good ol .270 with silver tips will do the trick!
Plus, seeing Dallas Lane walk around the woods with a beat up reliable rifle from 1970ish would be a trip ha ha
Rick Richard
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Close enough……and through the eye will do it. Lol.
Elk Hunter 338
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I'm afraid it would make people say WHHHHAAAAAAAA but I've killed with both my grandpa's rifles. so, they rest easy in the safe ... I may have to use my wife's 18" 7rsaum.
TheFishBox
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Do you plan to get another short barreled 338 going this year or is testing put on hold?
Elk Hunter 338
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My plan is to finish out the load work on this one and possibly another 338 edge in the works.
I may have a plan for just one more but that is still in the air.
Its been super hot here and i hate heat and shooting rifles so its been a bit slow
Ucsdryder
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Do you buy into the short cartridge for short barrels theory? I've heard it a few times and while it kind of makes sense, I don't know that I buy the difference in length will matter much.
300 norma over 300 rum
7saum over 7prc
Elk Hunter 338
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No sir ... I buy into the """More grains equals more gains theory!"" you hear the above from people that have never done it and live in the past!!
They are the same people that say "If you gonna have 300 win mag in a 20" barrel you might well get a 308 win" well sir there Isn't a 308 win alive that will run a 215 berger in a 20" barrel the speeds a 300 win mag will. I wonder why that is
I personally have shot just about very popular combo out there in longer barrels then in short barrels..
I don't care what people say, there is no free lunch .. a 7rsaum in a 20" barrel will not shoot a 180 the same speed as a 28 Nosler in a 20" barrel.
A standard 338 Norma will not shoot the same as a 338 edge in a 22" barrel.. Grains equal gains!!
Now, there are some that seem to think its ok to say,,, run some CRACK in that one and not the other, and then will say its equal but we all know, that isn't how this works!
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comfisherman
Well-Known Member
Don't know the 338s all that well but about a decade ago we did extensive work with 7s to test some theories.
At the time there was an outfit selling what I'm assuming we're rejects from savage of various different barrels. Priced 45-85 and cheaper if you bought a bunch. Some were raw length some were what appeared to be factory tapers. My wife was tasked with being familiarized with some software that was going to be used for a grad school research project. They wanted her to pick something arbitrary that she understood to learn the software on. She was devoid of ideas so I bought a bunch of seven Ultra Mag and 270 short mag cheapie barrels, and started chopping them down.
Eventually we rotated in a 7 mag barrel that I was given and a takeoff 7 wsm barrel a buddy gave me from a 6.5wsm project.
We learned several things. Barrel velocity loss isn't linear across 16-26 inches, it's also not the same across bullet weight options. Heavy and light for caliber always dropped off more than middle of the road options... eg a 110 grain v max would loose more on average in a short barrel than a 130 or 140 in A 270 wsm as would a 160, but it was way more pronounced when we used 85grain e tips.
The big takeaway was as mentioned above, boiler room matters most. With a caveat of course. We didn't go below 16 inches on our test, although a friend with a striker did take the 27p wsm to 10 inches. A 20 inch 7 rum will beat a 7 mag or 7 wsm that's also 20 inches, but with all starting at 26 the percentage of win gets lower and lower. Stack a 7 rum next to a 7wsm next to each other, the rum has a perceptible amount of less usable barrel length. We found that the 270 and 7 wsm cartridges dropped minimally per inch from 26 to 21, modestly from 21 to 19 and kinda off a cliff from 16 to 19. In fps metrics were talking 25 to 35 fps per inch 21 to 26, 35-40 in the 19-21 inch range and 60-80 fps below 19.
The 7 rum showed the same significant drop around 21 or 22 inches, (our modeling was almost exactly 21 5/8 for my preferred hunting bullet)
In all lengths 16 to 26, the 7 rum stomped the 7 wsm.
Side observations,
Xp hunter Ernie was right. Powder speed did not have an effect on velocity loss. The fastest load long was fastest short, I'd thought it was not so but a friend who knows numbers and looked at the data politely pointed out withing normal rifle configuration and use the powder burn differences would not equate to differences distinguished with over the counter measuring devices.
I've no doubt the intangible aspects of more mild cartridges have merit. My 18 inch 7 wsm could cook and well as kill something with its fireball.
Good info there.
Did I hear 338 Snipetac.
comfisherman
Well-Known Member
At some point the intangibles start to become the controlling Factor. If I were to do another shorty it would probably be somewhere in the moderate Magnum range. 7 prc up to 28 nosler, as opposed to 7 rum or 7-338 lap.
In a long barreled rig I'd be back to bigger powder columns.
Looking at elk hunter 338s ethos on this rifle it's "best" within moderate parameters. I like it, norma improved still fits in a relatively common (lapua bf actions are far more plentiful than chey tac) actions and works within relatively normal barrel/stock/bottom metal realm. Gues it would be analogous to the heaviest hauling one ton truck vs. Putting a bed on a f750. That next step up to chey tac is just a lot more that's a hard sell in a shorty tube.
Finishing up some sub caliber builds and need to do a mid bore boomer next. But next year its big bore build time, I've always like the idea of a Norma, maybe a short build norma improved is just about perfect.
